Quote Originally Posted by Scienter View Post
I'm a self-described feminist and a woman. I find your remarks a little disturbing. Some feminists are in favor of empowering women to the detriment of men, but they are a minority. Just like some conservatives are also Christian dominionists. They're a noisy minority who are perceived as louder because they get a lot of attention.

Feminists aren’t man-hating harpies who think they’re superior to men. The majority of feminists want to be treated the same as men are in society. Equally. So yes, feminists believe in the empowerment of women, but not as you’ve described it. Not at the detriment of men.

A person can be a feminist and an egalitarian. But, feminism (a separate school of thought/area of activism) is necessary to combat misogyny. While egalitarians support the idea of equality for everyone, feminists look to the specific concerns regarding women: equal pay, bodily autonomy, rape and victim-blaming, the sexualization of girls, to name a few. Feminism is not just about equal opportunity, it’s about how society perceives women, how they are treated differently in society and by the law.

Patriarchy is not a word feminists like to throw around as an excuse for how women are treated. It’s the disproportionate conferring of leadership status on men. Maleness is assumed as the standard; women are seen as different, other, and thus, inferior or at least separate. Look at Congress, boards of major companies, other leadership positions, etc., women are not well represented. Our interests are not well represented.

I’m not arguing that all men support the idea of patriarchy, but it does exist in our society. It’s in our laws, who our leaders are, how our culture treats women.
You know, one of the most damaging things I have come accross in Femenism is the devaluing of the traditional female role as a raiser of children. As though that wasn't a big enough job, femenists expect women to go out to work at the same time.

If you are an Egalitarian you don't need to be a femenist. Egalitarianism means valuing people for their merits, and treating everyone by the same stardard. Under egalitarianism men and women are treated by the same stardards, so if a woman works the same job as a man for the same number of years she will be payed the same for that work.

She won't get the same as a man if she takes two years off to have a baby that he doesn't.